This week in chapel 3D led the service about Maundy Thursday. The word Maundy itself comes from the Latin (hurrah!) mandatum – “that which is ordered” or commanded and specifically on this day it refers to the commandment that Jesus gave his disciples to love one another.
That love, on this particular day, found its expression in the humblest of tasks that he performed for his friends, washing their feet.
On Tuesday therefore, it was good that I could play my part in the story and wash the feet of some of the children acting as disciples around the table for the last supper.
Any such act by a leader has more of an impact perhaps because there is a surprise at the role being taken on.
In agreeing to wash their feet, whether symbolically or as on Tuesday in reality, what I’m saying to the children is that I respect them and I want the best for them and I will do anything for them and of course I do in fact believe that leadership is intrinsically bound up with service.
In the traditions of British society and culture we value all the services that support the structures of our country. We teach children to respect healthcare professionals, those who offer to fight for all countries or keep it safe. We ask children to show their respect in the ways that they behave and in the effort that they put into what they do each day at school. And of course it works both ways. My colleagues in leading the pupils’ education also understand the meaning of service and I think it is a hallmark of a great school when this is a constant feature amongst all those working within it.
This week I have been treated to a huge variety of reasons to be excited about serving this particular community and I’m privileged to have seen some extraordinary projects, games, films and this morning my challenge group listened to a very moving and powerfully written story about a girl’s quest to save polar bears threatened by global warming.
What speaks volumes in all of these fascinating and varied offerings is the huge satisfaction and enjoyment being experienced by the children and the richness of learning and sharing learning in the way that we have developed. Thank you to those parents who have taken the time to write to express their own joy at seeing this powerful development in our homework policy and to all the children whose endless creativity is really something that makes us proud.
As things hot up towards next week’s production of “Emil and the Detectives” I commend to you the many, many extraordinary things that have been achieved so far this term and I’m excited at what I will see and enjoy when I attend the show next week.
Please remember next week, as there are no clubs, that dismissal from Prep School is from three different doors depending on year groups.
What ever you’re doing this weekend enjoy your last weekend of this school term.
Jill Aisher
